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one-person vehicle. Xanth breaks his leg in a skycraft accident, and cannot embark upon his treatise-voyage, the journey for which the knights have been studying. Rook also makes a raid on the
Foundry Glade, along with Felix Lodd's sister Varis Lodd (who saved Rook from slavers when he was very young) and the slaughterer Knuckle. The purpose of this raid is to free the banderbear slaves that are kept there. During this raid, Rook takes a
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After arriving there, Rook, Stob and Magda are joined by Xanth
Filatine, a disguised Guardian of Night who is secretly channelling information to the Guardians so that they may ambush the librarian knights as they travel. During Rook's studies, he learns to create a skycraft, which is a small, flying
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Rook
Barkwater lives in the network of sewer-chambers beneath Undertown, in which a society of librarians has established itself, secretly opposing the cruel Guardians of Night. Rook, a lowly under-librarian, dreams of becoming a librarian knight—one of the select few to travel into the Deepwoods and
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keep the
Guardians busy, Rook sneaks into the tower on his skycraft and frees Cowlquape. As he is about to fly free, a rope becomes snagged and the skycraft is stuck. Xanth, the traitor, confronts Rook. The two had become good friends during their time together in the Free Glades, a fact that Xanth
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Rook embarks on his treatise-voyage. His goal is to find the Great
Convocation of Banderbears. Rook befriends a young banderbear named Wumeru, and he follows her, against her will, to the Convocation. The banderbears discover his presence and are about to kill him when the banderbear who Rook saved
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Rook, Magda and Stob make their way along the Great Mire Road, a shryke-controlled bridge that has been built to traverse the marshy Mire in place of sky ships. While on the way, Rook helps an imprisoned sky pirate, Deadbolt
Vulpoon, to escape. Finally, the librarian knights arrive in the Eastern
409:, has not yet succumbed to stone-sickness. Along with a crew of banderbears, the two set out to attack the fortress of the Guardians of Night: the Tower of the same name. Their purpose is to free Cowlquape Pentephraxis, an old friend of Twig's.
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gather information which may lead to the discovery of the cure to stone-sickness (an affliction which has destroyed the buoyant rocks, making skysailing impossible). Rook does not expect his dreams ever to come true—his best friend,
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Roost, a large shryke-city. Employing the help of a male shryke, Hekkle, who is friendly to the librarians, the three make their way across the
Deepwoods, eventually arriving at the Free Glades.
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Maynard, Sally; McKenna, Fiona (1 September 2005). "Mother Goose, Spud Murphy and the
Librarian Knights: Representations of librarians and their libraries in modern children's fiction".
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apparently had not forgotten. Xanth cuts the rope quickly, allowing Rook to fly away safely with
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trilogy; within the stories' own chronology it is the seventh novel, following the
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has been commended for the way it portrays librarians. It has been reviewed by
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Unlike the previous books in the series, this focuses on Rook Barkwater and
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233:Print (hardback and paperback)
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60:"The Last of the Sky Pirates"
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309:Children's literature portal
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101:December 2008
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